Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Xue Zhongqi was equally surprised, immediately straightening his back and perking up his ears. "Really? Isn't that show only for the most A-list celebrities?"

Jiang Shiyi also turned to look.

"Yes, because we're the hottest thing on the Star Network right now," Xu Jintang stated calmly, arms crossed.

"Then we have to go! Absolutely," Song Tianqi was the first to declare.

Yan Yuting also excitedly slapped the table. "Exactly, it would be a waste to miss out on such a popular show."

Xue Zhongqi adjusted his clothes, saying suavely, "Let's go, it's not like we have anything else to do anyway."

Xu Jintang turned to Jiang Shiyi. "What about you, Shiyi-jie?"

"I'm fine with whatever," Jiang Shiyi replied placidly.

Xu Jintang withdrew her gaze. "In that case, I'll reply to the production team now. Everyone, get ready to record the show the day after tomorrow."

...

As night fell, Xu Jintang sat cross-legged in the cultivation chamber.

Her breathing was steady, her eyes closed, with the ethereal forms of a Frost Dragon and a Tilted Scale faintly shimmering behind her.

After an unknown period, a powerful light burst from her body.

Immediately after, her internal power began to surge dramatically.

The light grew increasingly blinding, illuminating the entire room as if it were daytime.

This surge in power lasted a full fifteen minutes before finally subsiding.

Xu Jintang slowly exhaled a cloudy breath, her hands descending from her sides to rest over her dantian.

The next moment, she opened her eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.

After nearly two months of relentless effort, her mental power had finally broken through to the Fourth Rank.

"When are you going to speed up your cultivation progress? It's too slow," the Green Archaeopteryx flapped its wings as it flew out from the beast companion space.

Xu Jintang stood up, barely glancing at it, and walked directly to the living room, settling onto the sofa.

A moment later, Jin Xiaobao also emerged from her spiritual consciousness.

He stood on the coffee table opposite her, arms akimbo, a hint of arrogance in his demeanor. "Finally reached the Fourth Rank. Don't get complacent now—try to reach the Fifth Rank quickly, then you won't need me to activate the Scales for you anymore."

Xu Jintang poured herself a glass of water, took a sip to moisten her throat, and then replied, "Got it."

Just then, her communicator, resting nearby, vibrated twice.

It was a reply from the "Happy Match-Up" production team: "Great! Thank you all for accepting our invitation. We’ll see you at the recording venue the day after tomorrow!"

Xu Jintang politely sent a sticker in reply.

After finishing her water, she set down the glass, stood up, and headed downstairs to the training ground.

Having advanced to the Fourth Rank, she had unlocked a new skill and was eager to test it out.

"Class Monitor, still up this late?" Yan Yuting had just stepped off the training platform when she spotted Xu Jintang.

Xu Jintang acknowledged him. "Yeah, I just reached the Fourth Rank. Came to try out my new skill."

Yan Yuting paused, his eyes widening in surprise. "You reached the Fourth Rank! That's fantastic—that's another ace up our sleeve for the championship."

Xu Jintang quickly stepped onto the platform, facing a strength testing device.

Yan Yuting, who had already dismounted, pressed the protective button, and a shield instantly enveloped the platform.

Xu Jintang slowly channeled her mental power, and ice energy coalesced in her palm.

—Fourth Skill: Frost Lotus Mist.

Upon activation, it instantly condenses three explosive frost lotuses and creates a mist domain effect that can cover a ten-li radius.

Each lotus explosion delivers high damage. When all three lotuses detonate simultaneously, the combined damage can reach the peak of Fourth-Rank power.

In an instant, three frost lotuses materialized above Xu Jintang’s palm.

Following their appearance, an icy mist filled the air, and ice beads began to form. The surrounding temperature instantly plummeted to freezing.

A wave of cold washed over them, making Yan Yuting instinctively hunch his shoulders.

On the platform, Xu Jintang raised her hand and sent the three lotuses flying toward the strength testing device.

The three lotuses unfurled gracefully, drifting through the air as lightly as cotton before landing on the testing device, seemingly without any weight.

Half a second later, a thunderous "boom" echoed.

The immense force of the blast pushed Xu Jintang back several steps.

She was driven back to the very edge of the platform before she could steady herself.

At that moment, the strength testing device’s screen displayed the result: "Attack damage has reached peak Fourth Rank."

"Holy cow, Class Monitor, your new skill is something else," Yan Yuting exclaimed in amazement from below.

Xu Jintang looked down at her palm. "It'll do."

Soon, the commotion from the training platform caught the attention of the others.

Song Tianqi burst out of his room in a panic and charged downstairs. "What happened? What just exploded?"

Yan Yuting quickly explained, "It’s the Class Monitor. She advanced to the Fourth Rank and was testing her new skill."

"No way! The Class Monitor made Fourth Rank too!" Song Tianqi shouted at the top of his lungs. "Damn, the pressure’s on again."

There were five people in the experimental class. Everyone knew how monstrously strong Jiang Shiyi was.

Now, with Xu Jintang following closely behind and advancing to the Fourth Rank, the pressure on the other three naturally intensified.

Soon, Song Tianqi’s shouts reached Jiang Shiyi and Xue Zhongqi.

The news of Xu Jintang’s breakthrough to the Fourth Rank had spread completely.

Fortunately, everyone had already become accustomed to Xu Jintang's extraordinary abilities, so they were only slightly surprised before quickly returning to their own tasks.

Time flew by, and soon it was the day to participate in "Happy Match-Up."

After getting dressed neatly, Xu Jintang and her four teammates arrived on time at the recording venue.

The venue was a huge studio.

Outside the filming area, many fans who had received advance notice were waiting along the roadside.

As soon as the five members of the Masked Squad appeared, fans erupted into screams from both sides of the road: "Ahhh, Foodie, Mom loves you!"

"Coldblooded Killer is the hottest!"

"Hot Air Balloon, look this way! Look this way!"

"Jade Fox, you're the best! And Big Watermelon, you're great too!"

The crowd of fans was immense, yet this was only a small fraction of them.

Many more were from other cities and couldn’t make it due to various reasons, so they could only tune into the livestream online when they had time.

"Please come this way, all five of you." The show's staff, clearly used to this, smiled and motioned for Xu Jintang and the others to come.

Xu Jintang nodded and quickly entered the studio.

The studio was very large, with staff wearing work passes bustling around.

The show's director, dressed in a gray vest, spotted Xu Jintang and the others and quickly waved them over. "Everyone, over here."

Xu Jintang turned to look and was immediately drawn to the five handsome young men standing beside the director.

She hesitated for a moment—weren't they the same five who performed during the semifinals on the arena stage that day?

"Wow! They're so handsome." Yan Yuting couldn't help but blurt out.

The five young men, who were standing close by, heard her clearly. The silver-haired boy who had been standing in the center on stage smiled shyly and said to Yan Yuting, "Thanks, sis, for the compliment."

"Holy crap." Yan Yuting couldn't hold back a curse. "He actually called me 'sis'!"

Xu Jintang pursed her lips, a slight smile forming at the corners, and began checking out the silver-haired boy.

"This is the idol group Mulingxiu. They will be participating in the show with you. You can get to know each other." The director quickly stepped in to make introductions.

He pushed the silver-haired boy forward first. "This is Shen Mucheng, the leader of the Mulingxiu idol group."

"Hello, brothers and sisters." Shen Mucheng greeted Xu Jintang and the others politely, his voice soft and gentle, instantly evoking a sense of tenderness.

Yan Yuting's heart melted instantly, and she replied with extreme gentleness, "Yes, hello, hello."

Song Tianqi and Xue Zhongqi exchanged a glance, both showing a hint of dissatisfaction in their eyes.

"Who are you calling 'big brother'? I'm only sixteen this year. Are you younger than me?" Song Tianqi was the first to speak up.

Shen Mucheng paused in surprise. "You're only sixteen? You seem so mature and masculine—I thought you were older than me."

Song Tianqi's confrontational attitude instantly softened.

He froze for a moment. "You think I'm mature and masculine? Really? Do I really look that mature?" As he spoke, Song Tianqi even touched his chin in surprise, seemingly deep in thought.

Shen Mucheng immediately nodded, "Really. I think you have a lot of manly charm, brother."

Xu Jintang, standing nearby, found it amusing.

She threw a teasing glance at Song Tianqi—sure enough, after being casually praised by the other side, Song Tianqi’s previously confrontational attitude vanished entirely, replaced by a goofy, pleased grin.

"Ah, little brother, you’re so good with words," Song Tianqi said heartily, patting Shen Mucheng on the shoulder. "Don't worry, from now on, I'll have your back. If you need anything, just tell me."

Seeing how easily Song Tianqi had been won over in two sentences, Xue Zhongqi literally rolled his eyes in exasperation. "No wonder Mr. Zhuang always says you’re all brawn, no brains."

After making his rounds with compliments, Shen Mucheng’s gaze finally settled on Xu Jintang.

"Sister, you’re the captain of the Masked Squad, right? I really like you, and my other teammates do too."

His sincere expression made it impossible not to be moved by his words.

Xu Jintang smiled back at him. "Thank you, little brother."

"Sister, would you mind swapping contact info?" Shen Mucheng looked at Xu Jintang with curved eyes and an expectant expression.

Just as Xu Jintang was about to respond, Xue Zhongqi butted in from the side. "Back off, back off. Our captain doesn’t just add anyone."

"It’s fine, I’ll add him!" Yan Yuting rushed over immediately, holding out her phone.

Xu Jintang also patted Xue Zhongqi’s shoulder reassuringly. "It’s okay, we can add him."

Xue Zhongqi: "..."

He thought: He knew it! It's all about looks in this world!

If he’d known earlier, he wouldn’t have come to this crap show—one by one, they’re all swept away by outsiders!

What’s even funnier is that Song Tianqi, standing nearby, also chimed in cheerfully. "Little bro, I’ll add you too."

Xue Zhongqi: "..."

Noticing his mood, Jiang Shiyi walked over and patted his shoulder twice. "Just gotta get used to it."

After another half-hour break, the program’s live broadcast finally began.

The female host sat on the sofa, smiling at the camera. "Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week’s live broadcast of *Happy Match-Up*. Today, we’ve invited the five members of the Masked Squad, who have been very popular on the Star Web recently, as well as the idol group Mulingxiu, as our interview guests."

"Ahhh, here they come! The production team is amazing—they actually got the Masked Squad to record!"

"I have so many questions for the Masked Squad. I hope they pick my question during the Q&A!"

...

Thanks to the Masked Squad’s popularity, the *Happy Match-Up* live stream reached an unprecedented level of viewership.

Xu Jintang leaned back on the sofa, her eyes automatically scanning the surroundings.

When her gaze fell on a staff member cleaning up clutter in the outer area, she felt a weird sense of familiarity.

Had she seen this person somewhere before?